No small business owner likes to receive a letter from the Internal Revenue Service – trust me. Such letters inspire dread. Though they occasionally include a good surprise, such as a refund of an over payment, more often they are “not good.” Melissa and I recently received such a letter informing us that, because we […]
Archive | Magnus Insights
Colossal Failures at American Express and Chase
Over the past 2 months, I’ve been battling American Express to get them to correct a colossal mistake THEY made, but for which they blamed us/me and penalized us accordingly. To be fair to American Express, Chase Bank also failed during this time period, but not as badly as American Express. The issue common to […]
Formality Never Hurts
In thinking about the job candidates who failed to get out of the starting gate due to their wardrobe choices, I reflected on how formality provides a guide for “good” behavior. Being formal in addressing people with “Ms.,” “Mr.,” “Dr.,” etc. is a good starting place. It is likely you will soon be told to […]
Social psychologists have an explanation for most kinds of people’s encounters with others. In the situations to which David refers, one’s self monitoring level is crucial to the impression they make upon others. Self monitoring is defined as the degree to which people regulate the way they present themselves, including their emotions and behaviors, in […]
Know What You Don’t Know
Many years ago, a college professor of mine told me that knowing what you don’t know (or that you don’t know something) is an important sign of intelligence. It was an enlightening discussion and I think I’ve mentioned this in another post. But, it bears further discussion because we seem to live in a world […]
John Lennon
It’s about time I wrote a post about one of my favorite people, John Lennon. I’ve been a fan of the greatest band of all time, The Beatles, since 1964, when my wonderful father bought me their first album, “Introducing …The Beatles,” released on Vee-Jay Records. Although I liked Paul, George, and Ringo, it was John who […]
I was poorly prepared for the world of The Beatles and John Lennon when I met Melissa. I was not familiar with rabid Beatles fanatics, or as they are sometimes called, Beatles Freaks. It took me some time to comprehend Melissa’s lifelong love of The Beatles and John Lennon. I mean, I knew who the […]
The M’s
I have a friend named Marilyn Einbinder. We met several years ago at a Passover Seder hosted by her son, Marc, and daughter-in-law, Susan. Marc and Susan are our wonderful Megan’s parents and it was Megan who invited me to attend her family’s Seder. Immediately upon being introduced to Marilyn, I knew we were going […]
I think it is wonderful that M (Melissa) and M (Marilyn) clicked as they did. We’ve told M (Marc) he should have introduced them sooner. One never knows in life when connections will be made and this one was a bit of a surprise. Marilyn likes living a rich, full, life, and Melissa shares this […]
Dress for the Interview
Job interviews are something with which Melissa and I have had considerable experience over the last 30 years. We’ve revised our procedures over time, but we have always utilized an in-person interview as a final part of the process. Regardless of the position for which we are interviewing, we, as a professional practice serving a […]
I love people! I really do! I am constantly entertained and surprised by the things people do and say. Never a dull moment, that’s for sure! David’s post was prompted by our most recent job interview, which was of the shortest duration in the history of Magnus. Why? Because the job candidate, a young male, […]
You can go to Wal-Mart, Kmart…
David and I have different ways of accomplishing the same task. We are frequently engaged in debates about how to perform seemingly simple tasks. When we catch ourselves in the midst of another debate about some mind numbing chore, one of us usually says, “You can go to Walmart, Kmart (sadly, that’s no longer an […]
The good news is that it usually lightens the mood when these discussions ensue. Or I should say, it now does. My Dad’s tendency in this regard sometimes got irritating in that he questioned so many trivial items. This includes debating in which parking space I should park when taking him and Mom to dinner […]
Employees Should Cover Each Other
This is the 3rd in a series about “covering” or looking out for each other in a work environment. The need to do this is on a top down, down to top, and peer to peer basis. In the immediately prior post, I mentioned an employee who was hostile to another employee. The fact that […]
Although it has been over 30 years since I have been an employee, as opposed to an employer, I can recall what it was like to have co-workers and colleagues. The best example I am aware of is my colleague, and now, long time friend, Dr. Susan Broome, who looked out for me in an […]
Ziggy’s Birthday Is Still an Event
I will always and forever miss Ziggy. For those of you who never met Ziggy, he was my cat and my friend for 19 years. I loved Ziggy so much that, after his passing, I wrote a book about him. I fell in love with Ziggy on October 31, 1977. It is the only time […]
Ziggy lives on in many ways. Melissa’s book (available on Amazon) is high on that list. Ziggy touched many people’s lives and his story is entertaining. He was “old” when I met him, with old being relative – he was 9. But he and Melissa were inseparable. He did things his way, like Sinatra. And, […]